


Maritozzo

by KawaiiKozume



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: 5 Things, Angst, Birthday, Fluff, M/M, it's kinda scattered i'm really sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29038263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KawaiiKozume/pseuds/KawaiiKozume
Summary: Nico's birthdays through the years.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace/Leo Valdez briefly
Kudos: 12





	Maritozzo

**Author's Note:**

> A little birdie(read: my tumblr dash) told me it was Nico's birthday and because I wanted to write, I did a focused collection of his birthdays over the years. Please know it is late, I wrote it over two hours, it's probably not my best work, but I still love it and him.

December 1939

“ _ Tanti auguri, il mio amore _ !” Maria di Angelo places a small bread with cream filling in front of a 7 year old Nico di Angelo who claps his hands excitedly. It wasn’t the perfect setting to celebrate a birthday, but it would be the last one like this. The ground above shakes as warfare carries on outside their little world.

“Mamá!” He exclaims and then watches as she puts a single wax candle in it. “Will Papá be here soon?”

Maria falters as she turns around with a lighter. Bianca sits next to him with an arm around his shoulders.

“He’s very busy,  _ soldatino _ , he may not make it this year.” She says lighting the candle. Nico frowns but it doesn’t last long as his mother and sister launch into a rendition of happy birthday. A bead of wax starts sliding down the candle before the song ends but Nico doesn’t care, as long as he doesn’t get that piece of maritozzo. Just as the song ends, Nico leans forward and blows out the candle. Bianca and Maria both give a little cheer and Maria takes the treat to separate it. Nico’s legs swing as he waits. The dirt around them shifts, giving way for a man in a charcoal grey suit and dark hair pinned back to enter the little haven.

“Papá!” Nico launches from his spot and wraps his arms around the man’s legs. Maria turns around as Bianca wraps herself around Hades’ other leg. He pats both of their heads and meets Maria’s eyes.

“My apologies for being so late.” He murmurs. The dirt should have soaked up his voice but it didn’t. Maria didn’t say anything but shook her head with a soft smile.

“It’s alright. I’m just glad you made it.”

Nico’s 7th birthday wasn’t amazing, but his family was all together so he didn’t care. He didn’t know that very soon, his life would change entirely.

***

Sometime in the 1990’s

“Hey, Bianca?” Nico asks over his sister’s shoulder as she plays the pinball machine. He watches the little white ball bounce around as she presses different buttons to lift various levers inside the glass.

“Hm?” She hums.

“How long do you think we’ve been here?” Nico asks.

“I don’t know.” She responds.

“Do you think it’s been a year?”

“Perhaps, why?”

“Well, if it’s been a year, then shouldn’t we have had birthdays?”

“Oh.” The game stops and she looks at her brother. He was right. If they’ve been there a year, then at some point their birthdays must have passed.

“But we don’t know if it’s been a year.” She states.

“It feels like it has, right?” He tilts his head. She does the same and thinks back on her time in the arcade. To her, it doesn’t really feel like a year. It feels more like days but she wasn’t sure.

“What if it has been a year? What should we do?”

“We should go play loud music in our room, dance and eat everything we can!” He says, then giggles at the idea.

“We’d get sick!” She cries. He giggles harder.

“That’s fine!”

So that’s how Bianca found herself turning up the radio in their room as loud as it could go and then bouncing on their bed with her brother until they got hungry. After what felt like minutes but had to have been hours, they both laid on their backs, staring at the ceiling.

“We have a Mamá, right?” Nico asks. Bianca squints as she tries to recall whether or not they did.

“Well, we’d have to.” She says cautiously. “Everyone has a Mamá and a Papá.”

“Where are ours, then?”

She searches her memory, tries to pry every hidden piece that could be inside the corners of her brain, but all she can remember is the hotel.

“I’m not sure.” She says softly. “I don’t remember.”

“Me neither.”

It goes quiet between them then Bianca turns to look at her brother.

“Hey, I’ve got something that’ll cheer you up.” She smiles mischievously and slides off their bed and heads for the dishes that were piled up. She lifts the lid of one that had been covered since it showed up. On it was a small bread, cut down the center with cream filling.

“Maritozzo!!” Nico shrieks and sits up. Bianca smiles and sits on the floor. Nico sits down across from her as she pulls the sweet apart. They sit in silence again and eat the bread together.

“Happy birthday to us.” She says.

***

December 2007

Seven days. It had been seven days since Percy showed back up without his sister. In seven days, Nico had only managed to get incredibly lost in the dumb underground maze he ran into after leaving the dining pavilion. He wanted to go back almost immediately, but he also was afraid to.

When he thought about Percy, he thought about how cool he was, then he thought about Bianca. He also had this swirling feeling in his stomach everytime he thought about Percy and he didn’t like that at all. He pushed on.

In some ways, he was lucky that Minos found him.

“Isn’t this interesting?” The ghost said, spooking him away from the edge of a broken pathway. “A little Lord of the Underworld.”

Nico backed away from the flickering shade until he hit a wall.

“Don’t be too afraid, I’m King Minos. The owner of this labyrinth, despite what Daedalus will tell you.” The shade said. Nico watched it, wary of the translucent man.

“You crave revenge.” He said. “I can teach you how to get there.”

Nico tilted his head.

“I’ve seen many offspring of Hades’ come through the underworld and I know how to trigger your abilities. And,” Minos outstretched his hand, “how to make you powerful.”

Nico considered his options. He could continue to wander underground in the giant maze that seemed to want to kill him at every turn, or he could accept this ghost king’s help and avenge Bianca.

“Deal.” He reaches out, expecting to pass through the King’s hand, but is surprised when he makes contact with it.

“It’s part of your abilities, young lord.” Minos starts as he walks off. Nico trails behind, listening to the king talk about what else Nico could potentially do.

For his eleventh birthday, Nico began being manipulated by the King of the Labyrinth.

***

December 2009

Searching for his friend who suddenly disappears is not Nico’s idea of a great birthday. To be fair, Nico doesn’t really remember what his birthdays were like. If he thought about it long enough, he could probably conjure a feeling of excitement, he could remember his sister, but past that, he couldn’t tell you.

This year, he decided he would be getting his sister back. No. Matter. What. So, while he was out looking for Percy, he decided to stop by the Underworld and steal his sister back. The Doors of Death were open so what did it really matter? It was a perfect plan, foolproof even. Until it wasn’t.

_ “What do you mean she chose rebirth?” Nico hissed at the shade sitting on a fake chair on the Judgment Pavillion. _

_ “I mean, young master, she’s not here.” Thomas Jefferson replied. He looked to his left, away from Nico and gave the other shade a look. _

_ “Come here, young lord, for I will confide in you something.” Shakespeare announced to his left. Nico shuffled that direction. “Go into the fields, you may need to wander for a bit, but you will find something for what you desire, alright?” _

“Go into the fields.” Nico mimics Shakespeare’s words to himself. “You’ll find something there.”

He kicks at the ground beneath him as a shade wanders past him, whispering in their tongue that nobody quite knew except Hades himself.

“I’m never going to find  _ anything _ . That old man sent me on a wild chase.” He curses and closes his eyes. He needs to feel for something. Whatever Shakespeare thinks he’ll desire, he needs to feel it. He centers himself and breathes a few breaths until he feels it. It’s a pull in his soul and he knows the old man was right. He heads in the direction he felt the pull and stops in front of a younger girl with dark skin and observant eyes.

Observant eyes weren’t made for normal shades. This girl is different from all the others and Nico watches for a moment, trying to figure out why that was. Then he feels it: She is like him. He dives forward and grabs her hand, no longer surprised when he doesn’t fade through it.

“You can see me.” He says.”

Hazel Levesque is her name. She wasn’t Bianca, nobody would ever be Bianca, but for the first time since Nico could remember, he wasn’t alone for his birthday. Even if Hazel didn’t know it yet.

***

December 2016

“Pssst.” A voice echoes through Nico’s sleepy haze. “Pssst, darlin’, wake up.”

Nico opens his eyes to see Will shaking his shoulder.

“Wha?” He asks, sitting up, already becoming more alert.

“I’m sorry to wake you up, but I gotta leave soon for my shift.” Will whispers. Nico rubs his eyes.

“So?” He asks. Will’s never woken him up before leaving for his intern shift and he doesn’t know why he’s starting now.

“So, I wanted to see your face when we gave you your birthday treat.” Will responds. Birthday treat...Oh. Nico’s eyes widen when he realizes that it was, in fact, December 28th.

“There he is.” Will coos as Nico moves around, more awake. “Leo has it ready in the kitchen. Come out, then you can go back to bed when we’re done.”

Will leaves their room and Nico looks around before rubbing his eyes again. He sighs and stands up, then pads out into the kitchen. On the counter is a small plate with three identical items on it.

“It’s probably not a perfect replica, but I tried my best with what I could find.” Leo explains as Nico wedges his way between the two. His sleepy brain still isn’t processing what  _ it _ is.

“What are they?” He asks. They look familiar, they smell even more so, but he can’t put his finger on it.

“Maritozzo?” Leo offers. Nico’s eyes widen as memories filter to the forefront of his mind. Sharing a singular one with his mother, Bianca and Hades. Bouncing on a giant bed in the Lotus Casino. Sitting in a cafe on a sunny day as Bianca pulls one apart.

“ _ Oh. _ ” He says softly.

“If you don’t like it, that’s okay. Let me know and we can make something else, like, cupcakes or something. Buford is good for that. You know what? Here, I’ll toss these now, and get to work on those cupcakes for tonight and-”

“Leo, I think he likes it.” Will murmurs, resting a hand on Leo’s forearm. Nico turns to Leo and smiles.

“I love it.” He whispers, then hugs him and stays there a few seconds.

“I’m glad we’re all loving and soft this morning, but I have to be leaving so I’m going to sing.” Will says, running a hand up and down Nico’s back.

_ Happy birthday to you _

_ Happy birthday to you _

_ Happy birthday dear Nico _

_ Happy birthday to you _

Nico cries on his 20th birthday, and that’s okay, because the last time he cried on his birthday was the first one he could remember having. But this time, he cried for very different reasons. And he knew, if he listened closely to the whispers of the shadows in his home, he could hear two soft voices saying  _ “Tanti auguri, il mio soldatino” _ .

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I'm at kawaii-kozume.tumblr.com <3


End file.
